Rethinking Sociology: Empire, Knowledge and Connection

What happens when we tell the story of modern Britain as part of a much bigger, global history?

Laurie Taylor talks to Les Back (Professor of Sociology at the University of Glasgow) and Gurminder Bhambra (Professor of Historical Sociology at the University of Sussex) about how sociology can help us rethink the past - and make sense of the present.

Looking back across seventy-five years of the British Sociological Association, their newly appointed President, Les Back, reflects on a discipline that has often felt under pressure, yet remains as relevant as ever. From early post-war concerns with the welfare state to the radical challenges posed by feminism and anti-racism, he traces sociology’s shifting priorities - and argues for a more open, inclusive “sociological imagination”, alive to everyday experience and the importance of community in an increasingly individualised world.

Gurminder Bhambra challenges familiar ideas about Britain’s history and global role. Rather than simply “decolonising” knowledge, she argues we need to put colonial histories back at the centre of how we understand society. From the global networks that made the Industrial Revolution possible to the overlooked contributions of colonial subjects to British prosperity, she explores how these hidden connections continue to shape debates about migration, belonging and inequality. She has co-edited and contributed to a new book on this topic - The Modern World After Colonialism, Remaking the Social Sciences.

Together, they discuss what sociology can offer in a fragmented age - asking how a better understanding of shared histories might open up new ways of thinking about identity, justice and the kind of society we want to live in.

Producer: Natalia Fernandez
Editor: Robyn Read